Masanga Hospital Bee Project

The Masanga Hospital in the Tongolili District of the Republic of Sierra Leone has a long history of effective treatment of wounds and ulcers with honey. Patients from all over the country and neighbouring West African countries such as Guinea, Liberia, and the Gambia have received treatment from the hospital. The major challenge facing Masanga Hospital has been the unavailability of quality honey for the over 500 patients who visit the clinic every year. According to Dr Jonathan Van Nunes, the Medical officer in Charge of the hospital, the only source of honey comes from local wild honey hunters. These hunters fell down trees and burn bee colonies to extract honey under unhygienic conditions. Though the quality of honey from the hunters was questionable, the hospital has no alternative sources. In July 2019, MoU was signed between BfDG and the hospital to support the production of quality honey for wound dressing. The aim of the Project was to train some selected staff members and farmers from five adjourning villages to keep bees to produce quality honey for the Wound Clinic. Masanga Hospital has successfully harvested honey from the hives established for the Clinic.

More about this project is here.